NEW FRANCEFrench Settlements in the New World

NEW FRANCE

•A settlement is a location established by people that are new to an area. Many French explorers claimed the lands that eventually became New France.

LOCATION

• The French explored the St. Lawrence River, the headwaters and the length of the Mississippi River to what is now New Orleans (LaSalle) and claimed this land as New France.

LOCATION

•French colonists settled Quebec in Canada on the St. Lawrence River and along the Mississippi River.

ECONOMICS

•Fur, fur, fur! New France had a short growing season and their small population made growing crops for export impossible.

ECONOMICS

•Instead they developed a thriving fur trade with Native Americans so they could sell to Europe to make a profit.

ECONOMICS

•In other words, they practiced mercantilism (see notes on New Spain for this definition).

RELIGION

• French settlers also converted the Native Americans to Catholicism. The French government did not allow religious dissenters, or people with different beliefs, to settle in their colonies.

GOVERNMENT

•The government of the Mother Country determined the type of government that the colonists would have in the New World.

GOVERNMENT

•The Spanish and French kings were absolute monarchs so they allowed very little self-government in their colonies.